I'm feeling a bit down and out of my depth
None of the incredibly successful startup founders I know have substantially failed at anything in their career. They bounced through school with perfect grades, went to a world famous institution, and were successful at starting up on their first try.
I very nearly failed my A-levels (UK end of highschool exam) and went to an average university.
I built over the first year a grocery delivery marketplace, and dropped out to go full-time. It imploded 3 months later.
I got rejected from a prestigious accelerator after that.
I got a job at a YC company, and was laid off 8 months later for not matching the founder's vision.
I reapplied to the same accelerator and was accepted and got a co-founder, and applied to the Thiel Fellowship. Rejected after 1 interview.
People always tell us when we're growing up that you need to fail in order to succeed but I don't think that's true. A very small amount of failure might help with the experience, but truthfully, repeated rejection lowers odds of success. When talking with other founders I feel weak compared to people who've been good at everything they've tried.
Common woes, but they've left me feeling down. Any advice for overcoming the negative emotions?
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